Micronutrients in the Active Teens Diet.

Micronutrients are the nutrients needed for life in small quantities. For example iron, magnesium, and zinc. Also some more common forms of micronutrients are sodium and vitamins.




Micronutrients are very important in an athletes diet due to the involvement in many metabolic processes. Metabolic processes are the chemical and physical processes that are constantly going on in your body, which is why they are essential to an athletes diet.
A vitamin is a natural compound that the body needs in small amounts. Something is considered a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism. There are two types of vitamins. Water-soluble and Fat-Soluble. When a vitamin is water-soluble it means they can be easily be dissolved in water. When a vitamin is fat-soluble that means they are absorbed through the intestinal tract with the help of fats.
Vitamins are essential for normal growth of the body and development of multi-cellular organisms. As you can see they are very essential if an athlete wishes to get bigger and develop a little bit more. After the maximum growth has been achieved vitamins are necessary for maintenance. If a teen is looking for a specific effect they will make sure to take a little more of the vitamin that helps that. For example if a teen isn't getting enough collagen which is found in skin, bones, cartilage, ligaments, and blood vessels, they would take vitamin C which is important in the production of collagen.



Sodium is important in keeping the balance of pressure on the inside of our cells and the outside. Which is why too much sodium leads to high blood pressure while having to little sodium leads to low blood pressure. High blood pressure also leads to things like heart attacks and strokes. We can get sodium naturally in some foods like milk and fresh vegetables although most of us get our sodium from seasonings such as salt.